Physical and Chemical Weathering
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... Hydration simply involves the absorption of water into the existing minerals of the rock, causing the expansion of the mineral, leading to eventual weakening. It is less severe than hydrolysis, the most significant chemical weathering process, whereby H+ and OH ions in water react with the mineral ions.
Carbonation is a result of the reactions of rainwater and carbon dioxide to produce carbonic acid (H2CO3), which slowly dissolves any rocks made of calcium carbonate, such as limestone.
Gases produced from emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide from power stations and car exhaust dissolve in water droplets in the atmosphere, forming dilute acids solutions which fall as rain, dissolving limestone and sandstones in a similar way to carbonation.
Chelation is a complex biochemical process, in which chel ...
